Local elections decide who represents us on our city, district, and regional councils.
In some parts of New Zealand, local elections are also held for local and community boards, licensing trusts, and some other organisations.
The people elected to local councils get to make decisions about our daily lives and the future of our towns and cities. They set and collect rates, oversee town planning, and provide services like rubbish collection, parks and libraries.
Local elections no longer include District Health Board elections. The boards are being replaced by a new body, Health New Zealand.
Enrol to have your say
If you’re on the electoral roll, you can vote in the local elections where you live.
You can enrol if you’re 18 or older, a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and have lived in New Zealand for more than one year continuously at some time in your life.
Enrol or update online
Or call 0800 36 76 56 and ask for an enrolment form to be sent to you.
Your enrolment pack
Everyone on the electoral roll will be sent an enrolment update pack in the mail in the first week of July 2022.
When you receive your pack, check your details are correct, including your address.
If they’re correct, you don’t need to do anything.
If they’re incorrect, update your details by 12 August. You can update your details online using your New Zealand driver licence, New Zealand passport or RealMe verified identity. Or make the changes on the form in your update pack, sign it and send it back.
Enrol or update online
Your local council will send voting papers to you in the mail when it’s time to vote, so it’s important that you’re enrolled at the right address.
If you don’t receive an enrolment pack
If you don’t receive an enrolment pack in the first week of July, it means you’re not enrolled to vote or your details are not up to date.
Enrol or update online
Or call 0800 36 76 56 and ask us to send you a form.
If you enrol after Friday 12 August
If you enrol or update your address after midnight 12 August 2022, you won’t get your voting papers sent to you in the mail. You’ll have to request special voting papers from your local council’s electoral officer.
The last day to enrol to vote in the local elections is Friday 7 October.
Local councils run the elections
Local elections are run by local councils. Each local authority appoints an electoral officer to conduct its election.
If you are enrolled, your local council will send you voting papers in the mail when it’s time to vote.
Contact your local council’s electoral officer
The Electoral Commission’s role is to make sure each council has an up-to-date electoral roll in time for the elections. We do not run or oversee the local elections.
Voting when you are on the Māori roll
The roll you are on may affect the way you vote in local elections.
If you’re on the Māori roll and your local authority has a Māori ward or constituency, you’ll vote for a candidate or candidates in the Māori ward or constituency.
Māori wards and constituencies
Your roll choice
If you’re Māori and enrolling for the first time, you have an important choice to make. You need to decide which electoral roll you want to be on: the general roll or the Māori roll.
After you’ve enrolled, you can change rolls during the Māori Electoral Option which takes place every 5 or 6 years after the Census. The next Māori Electoral Option is scheduled for 2024. If you’re already enrolled, you won’t be able to change rolls before the 2022 local elections.
General roll or Māori roll
Voting when you’re on the unpublished roll
If you’re registered on the unpublished roll, it means your name will not appear on the printed electoral roll. You need to apply to the electoral officer at your local council to get your voting papers, as they will not be sent to you in the mail.
Contact an electoral officer
Voting from overseas
If you’re overseas, you can enrol to vote in the local elections if you are a New Zealand citizen who has been in New Zealand within the last 3 years, or you’re a New Zealand permanent resident who has been in New Zealand in the last 12 months.
If you are on the electoral roll but no longer meet the eligibility criteria, you should email us at remove@elections.govt.nz to be removed from the roll. You can go back on the electoral roll as soon as you meet the eligibility criteria again.
Make sure you’re correctly enrolled with an overseas postal address to get your voting papers. You can’t download or return voting papers electronically for local elections.
Provisional electoral roll
If you’re 17 years old and on the provisional electoral roll, you will automatically be enrolled to vote when you turn 18.
Voting when you own property in a council area, but don’t live there
If you own property that you pay rates on within a local council area, but usually live outside this area, you can apply to go on the ratepayer roll. You can then vote in the area where you pay rates, and the area where you live.
To apply, contact the electoral officer for the local council area where you pay rates but do not live. The electoral officer will send you a form to complete, sign and return so they can check you’re eligible.